Warning
by WHENICOMEAROUND
Summary: Jack takes the marshall's dying words to heart.
1. Warning

**A/N:** New Jate story! 

This story was inspired by that episode when the marshal was dying, so there's some blast-from-the-pasts in here. Also, once again I must thank Green Day, this time for "Warning" (not the album, the song... although the album has the song on it- oh, shut it, Maria.)

**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own Lost. I am publicly announcing this so no one holds me accountable for the ridiculous episode last night. Chaire right down the toilet. Utter mess. And I thought Eko was good!

But the whole psalm thing was pretty interesting, and at least they finally showed something, monster-wise.

But I'm telling you, if Charlie uses any of that heroin, I will be very upset.

**SUMMARY:** Jack takes the marshal's dying words to heart. This story takes place right before and during episode What Kate Did. I'll tell you what Kate did- she acted like a total IDIOT and ran away from Jack to be with Sawyer, disappointing Jaters everywhere. Better name for episode- What Kate Didn't Do, and it could be all about how Kate DIDN'T run away from Jack, DIDN'T tell Sawyer she... "feels something" for him (:shudders:), and DIDN'T do anything stupid.

But MAYBE I can forgive her, because she was running on no sleep and clearly delusional, and we all know she loves Jack and Jack loves her, it's just a matter of time before those two realize it and stop fooling around with Sawyer and That Michelle Rodriguez Girl.

Since the episode was clearly very disappointing (besides for the Jate kiss, yippee), I wrote this.

And you know what that means...

JATE ANGST!

YIPPEE!

**-WARNING-  
-BY WHENICOMEAROUND-  
-CHAPTER ONE-**

Kate touched the cool water with her foot. She watched the ripples grow wider and wider. Then, without bothering to walk in slowly, she held her breath and jumped right in.

It was such a relief to wash away all the dirt, sweat, and tears that clung to her like the old memories she couldn't wash away.

Kate surfaced and brushed away the droplets on her face. The water came off, but the tears kept coming. Everything that had happened appeared to be running down her face in liquid form. Everything she'd kept inside, everything she couldn't say was now silently falling down her face.

"You really screwed up this time, Kate." she muttered to herself.

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_This is one of those annoying remembering sequences that always crop up at five minutes to ten when you just want to see the end of the scene, but they make you suffer and there's an annoying remembering sequence. Only instead of it being about life before whoever it is got on the island, it's about on the island._

_Okay._

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Kate entered the dome-shaped room to find Jack and Locke conversing in hushed voices. Kate felt her stomach contract. Whatever they were talking about couldn't possibly be good, and one heinous glance at her from Locke told her it was probably about what she'd done.

Kate sighed. She knew she'd done some wrong things in the past, but what she'd done probably couldn't be considered one of them. I did the right thing, Kate tried to convince herself. I DID.

"Kate?" said Jack abruptly. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Kate looked up at him. "Sure." she said nervously.

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_And here's another one of those..._

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"Dude."

Jack looked up at Hurley. "Yeah?"

"That's gross." Hurley pointed to the piece of metal sticking out of the marshal's leg. He was lying unconscious on the ground. Jack looked like he wanted nothing more than to be that marshal right now.

"How do you know he's out?" Hurley said, kneeling down beside the man.

"I don't." said Jack, reaching for a bottle of peroxide.

Hurley tapped the man's forehead. "Hey, guy, you awake?"

Silence.

"Hey, look, a rescue plane! We're saved, whoo!"

More silence.

"Yup, he's out."

Jack wet his hands with alcohol. "Hold him down, Hurley, okay? I'm gonna pull the metal out."

Hurley shot Jack a horrified look.

"Don't even think about it." said Jack.

Hurley swallowed hard. "Okay." he whispered to himself. He looked at the open wound on the marshal's leg.

"Hurley..." said Jack warningly.

"Yeah, I got it, man." said Hurley weakly. He felt nauseous.

As if looking at it weren't bad enough, Jack pulled the piece of metal out of the man's leg. It made a disgusting squelching noise.

Hurley felt the color drain out of his face.

"Hurley," said Jack. "hand me that towel, will you?"

Hurley couldn't speak.

"The towel, Hurley!" said Jack, his voice sharp.

Right then and there, Hurley's eyes rolled back into his head and he toppled over on top of the marshal.

"HEY!"

But it was too late; Hurley was out.

Jack sighed. He tried to stop the bleeding, but his hands weren't going to absorb any blood. So he pressed down hard and reached for the towel.

"Ugh..."

Jack looked at the marshal's face. "Sorry, man. I know this sucks." he said shakily.

"Don't trust her. She's dangerous."

Jack's eyebrows pressed together. "What?"

"She's... dangerous..."

"Who?" said Jack. The bleeding had stopped at last; he reached for a bandage and started patching the man up.

"My... pocket..." the marshal groaned. "jacket pocket... a picture... don't trust her..."

Jack finished bandaging the man's leg and gave him a skeptical look.

"She's... dangerous..." he moaned.

Jack sighed, stood, and picked up the jacket that had been tossed aside. He pulled out a piece of paper and unfolded it to reveal a picture of...

...Kate.

Jack gasped.

"Listen to me." said the marshal. "No matter what she says, no matter how she makes you feel... don't trust her."

Jack sat back and sighed. Perfect, he thought. I've been here for a week and the one person I've come to trust is an escaped fugitive. Great.

The marshal's breathing became erratic.

"Don't trust her." he groaned. Then he closed his eyes.

Jack looked away and put his hand over the marshal's face.

The man was dead within a minute.


	2. Talk

A/N: Oh yes. It gets better.

I love Jate angst.

DISCLAIMER: Don't own any part of Lost.

-WARNING-  
-BY WHENICOMEAROUND-  
-CHAPTER TWO-

Jack took Kate by the arm and, with one more glance at Locke, who returned it, Jack led Kate into the next room.

He pointed to a chair and Kate sat down.

"How's Sawyer?" she asked innocently.

"Don't play dumb, Kate." said Jack.

Kate looked down at her hands.

"Why did you kill him?"

Kate didn't respond. She pretended to be very interested in her hands.

"Why, Kate?" Jack half-shouted.

Kate looked away. "I didn't want him to suffer." she mumbled.

"What?"

"I didn't want him to suffer." she mumbled again.

"Say it again, Kate?"

"I DIDN'T WANT HIM TO SUFFER!" Kate yelled, tears streaming down her face.

It was hard for Jack to hide his sympathy. He hated being the one who put her in this situation. But it had to be done.

And the easiest way for him to hide his feelings was by shouting, so he did that.

He started out soft. "I could have saved him." he whispered.

"Jack," Kate sobbed. "I-"

"I could have saved him, and you killed him." he said quietly.

"Jack, you..."

"WHY DID YOU DO IT, KATE?" he yelled. "WHY DID YOU KILL-"

"I'M SORRY!" Kate roared. She was crying hysterically now, but Jack hid his sympathy still.

"You're lying to me," Jack whispered through gritted teeth. "You didn't want to put him out of his misery. You wanted yourself not to suffer."

"Jack, no. That's not true!" Kate wailed.

"It is true, Kate." said Jack, standing up.

"Why don't you believe me?" Kate cried.

Jack came up so close to Kate's face, for a second she thought he was going to hit her. But he didn't. He would never.

He pulled something out of his pocket. Kate winced, but then she opened her eyes. He looked livid.

"The last thing the marshal said to me before he died," Jack whispered. "was not to trust you. That you were dangerous."

Kate looked at the thing Jack had pulled out of his pocket; it was a piece of paper. He was holding it beside her face with shaking hands. She tried to hold back her tears of rage, guilt, and fear, but she couldn't.

"I've been carrying this around in my pocket since then." Jack growled. "I want to be able to trust you. I want you to trust me. But if you're going to lie to me, I can't trust you."

He tossed the paper at her and she caught it. Tears were still clinging to her face. She clutched the paper in her sweating hand. She didn't need to open it. She knew what it was. She knew it was her picture. She knew where it was taken. She knew the number on the card around her neck in the picture, and she knew how she got to be there. And she hated it.

Jack stood up and walked out, leaving Kate to drown in her tears.

And once he was alone that night, he drowned in his own.

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Kate splashed her reflection and stood up. There was no point in standing around and crying. She was going to do something.

And yet she couldn't bring herself to find Jack... half of her knew that he was going to chastise her, and the last thing she felt like hearing was that she shouldn't have done it.

I did the right thing, Kate told herself. It was easier than him suffering to death. He probably didn't even feel anything.

She was only doing what was in everyone's best interest. She knew Jack would never be able to save him and she didn't want him to feel guilty as he had so many times before. No one wanted to watch him die.

As she was thinking this, trying to convince herself that killing Sawyer was the only justified thing she'd done since they crashed, someone came up behind her and cleared their throat. Kate spun around. It was Jack. On his face was a smile, but Kate couldn't figure out why.

"Can I join you?"

Kate didn't respond.

Jack stopped smiling and sat down on a rock. "I think we need to talk, Kate." he said with a sigh.

Kate stood and wrung out her hair, completely aware of the fact that she was in her underwear. Jack's eyes widened when she got out of the water, but he shook that- and many other thoughts- out of his head.

"Talk about what, Jack?" said Kate as she pulled her shirt over her head and sat down beside him.

"Kate... you killed Sawyer." said Jack softly, but there was no way of saying that without making her cry. More tears leaked out of her eyes. Jack sighed again.

"Kate, I'm not saying this to make you feel bad. Honest. I just need to know-"

"Well, you're doing a pretty good job," Kate snapped, wiping her eyes.

Jack sighed again. "Just tell me why you did it, Kate."

"I DID tell you. You didn't believe me!"

"You lied to me, Kate." said Jack. "I want the truth. Stop lying to me."

"I'm not lying!" she cried.

Jack let her cry for a few more minutes, then she whispered, "I'm telling you the truth, Jack. Why won't you believe me?"

"Kate, I want to believe you, and I want to trust you, but it's getting harder and harder, the more I think about you!" Jack said.

Kate looked him square in the eye. "You don't know anything about me." she whispered.

"Because you won't let me know, Kate. You're shutting me out."

"I'm not shutting you out."

"Then why won't you talk to me? Why won't you tell me what you did? Why won't you tell me how you got to be the wreck that you are? I want to help you, Kate, I do. I need a friend out here, and so do you. But if we're gonna be friends, you're gonna need to trust me."

Kate sniffled.

"Just tell me what happened, Kate." Jack whispered, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a handkerchief. He handed it to Kate.

Kate closed her eyes and held the cloth in her lap. "I want to trust you, too, Jack." she whispered.

"You can trust me, Kate." he whispered back.

She opened her eyes, reached out for his hand, and took it. Jack's was big and warm compared to Kate's hand, small, thin, and icy.

"I want to tell you what I did." she whispered.

"Tell me what you did, Kate."

Kate closed her eyes again. When she opened them, his face, the concerned look on it, gave her strength.

She started talking. 


	3. Suffering

**A/N:** As I'm finishing up this chapter I'm watching (well, it's on... I'm not really paying attention to the TV) All The Best Cowboys Have Daddy Issues. Not a bad episode, I must say. 

Ha. Ethan just socked Jack in the face.

Ooh, that must have hurt.

**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own Lost, unless my Lost calendar counts, and I don't think it does.

**QUOTE:** "I want to work in a hamster factory when I'm older, because they might let me take home reject hamsters!" -Eric, French

**-WARNING-  
-BY WHENICOMEAROUND-  
-CHAPTER THREE-**

Jack was up late that night thinking about Kate and everything she'd said. Everything she'd done.

_Well Jack,_ he told himself, _you asked to know. You wanted to know, and now you know._

Jack felt a pang of sorrow and sympathy for Kate as he replayed everything she'd said in his mind.

_"My parents split when I was five... my mom remarried some white trash guy... he was a drinker... when I was twenty-four I found out he was my real father, my biological father... I killed him..."_

As if this weren't enough, it got worse.

_"And my best friend... Tom... we've been best friends since we were five... he tried to help me get away... we were driving... the cops were chasing us... they shot Tom... he's dead too..."_

Jack felt the tears creep down his face as the kept thinking about Kate.

_"I had nowhere to go, Jack... I kept running... I went to Australia... got caught... the Marshal was taking me back to the States."_

In his mind he formed Kate's crying face that he hadn't taken his eyes off of when she was telling him all this. It only made him cry harder.

_"I don't know what I did wrong, Jack... I don't blame myself for killing my father... I hated him, Jack. I hated knowing that he was a part of me. I'll never be good, Jack. I'll never be anything more than him, because he's a part of me._

_"I'm a runner, Jack. I run away from everything I'm afraid of. That makes me as bad as my father._

_"I'm a murderer, Jack. I killed my father because I hated him. I killed Sawyer because I hate myself."_

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Annoying Remembering Sequence

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Kate tapped her fingers nervously against the seat of her chair. She knew what she had to do. She also knew that this was the time to do it.

"Can you hear me?" she said to Sawyer. He didn't respond and Kate hadn't expected him to. He was dead to the world. Out cold. Fast asleep.

"Are you in there? Wayne?" she sniffled as she felt tears come to her eyes. "Dad?"

Sawyer stirred but didn't wake. Kate inhaled deeply and closed her eyes.

"What I'm about to do... it's going to make me as bad as you. Worse. I had a reason to kill you, Wayne. I only have half a reason to kill Sawyer, but I have to do it."

Kate paused when she thought she heard the door open- that's all she needed, for someone to hear her confess her biggest sin to an unconscious person. Everyone already thought she was crazy.

"I hate you, Wayne." she whispered as silent tears fell down her face.

Sawyer opened his eyes. "Who the hell's Wayne?"

Kate's eyebrows pressed together. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes. I heard you say, 'I hate you, Wayne.' Who the hell's Wayne?" he repeated.

"Oh." said Kate. Her hands were shaking. She was terrified, but she knew she had to do this.

"You thirsty?" said Kate. "Jack wants me to keep you hydrated."

"Yeah, okay." said Sawyer, sitting up.

Kate walked into the tiny kitchen and filled a glass with water. She closed her eyes, opened them, and reached for a bottle of pills on the top shelf of the medicine cupboard.

She crushed them into tiny pieces and poured them into the glass. She was almost crying, but not quite. She walked back to Sawyer and handed him the cup.

"Thanks, Freckles." he said, smiling at her in that I-Think-I'm-Incredibly-Sexy way that drove her insane. He had such a big ego.

Kate forced a smile because she knew that she'd never have to see that smile again.

He drank the water. When he finished, he had a look of disgust on his face.

"Damn, Freckles," he said. "what'd ya put in-"

Suddenly he stopped. His entire body grew rigid and his jaw locked.

Kate burst out crying. She stood up and turned around, unable to look at Sawyer.

"I'm sorry, Sawyer." she sobbed. "I had to do it."

He couldn't speak. He was shaking uncontrollably. Suddenly, he stopped.

"It'll come back around." he groaned. Then, he died.

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Jack reconsidered the marshal's words as he pushed the heavy metal door to the hatch open. Somewhere inside of him he knew that Kate wasn't lying this time. Somehow he felt like he knew her now, better than he ever had before. He felt like everyone misunderstood her. She wasn't a bad person. She did what she needed to do.

He blinked as the bright sunlight blinded him. He'd spent two hours with that stupid button, and while he'd gotten a shower out of it, he still wanted to be outside in the sunlight.

"Jack?"

Jack spun around; it was Kate.

"Hey." he said. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah." she whispered. She was crying silently. Jack took her hand. "Come on."

Jack led Kate back to the beach, where forty people stood, waiting expecantly around a lumpy tarp that was Sawyer's body.

Kate started to cry.

Jack patted her on the back, whispered, "It's okay," and took his place beside the hole that Hurley had dug.

"James Ford." said Jack. "We knew him as Sawyer. He wasn't a bad person, though most of us thought he was." Damn it, this was hard. There wasn't too much good to say about Sawyer.

"But he died for one of us," Jack went on, gesturing towards Michael, who hung his head shamefully. "and when we find Walt, Walt will be... forever thankful." he said lamely. "Sawyer died a hero."

At this point Kate began to sob uncontrollably into Charlie's shoulder. Charlie, struck between surprise and pity, patted Kate's back gently.

"James 'Sawyer' Ford. May he rest in peace." Jack finished hurriedly, picking up some sand and throwing it in the hole, eager for Kate to stop crying.

One by one the islanders paid their respects to Sawyer. Jack walked up to Charlie and Kate.

"I've got it." he said to Charlie in an undertone.

Jack peeled Kate off Charlie's shoulder and pulled her into his arms.

"It's okay, Kate." Jack whispered. "It's okay."

Kate sobbed on.

Jack grimaced, not sure what to do. "Come on, Kate. Pay your respects, go on."

"No, Jack... I can't..." Kate gasped as Jack tried to pull her towards the grave.

"Kate, please-"

"No... no, Jack, I can't."

After a moment of this nonsense, Jack decided it was better if she didn't do it, anyway, and led her away.

She cried into his shoulder every step of the way.

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Once they reached the caves, Jack handed Kate a cup. "Drink it." he said.

"What, are you gonna poison me because I killed him?" Kate said without thinking.

Jack sighed.

"Joke, Jack."

"I know. Just drink it."

Kate obeyed. It was tea.

"I'm really not clear on just one thing..." Jack began.

Kate looked down, knowing what was coming.

"Why did you kill him?"

Kate sighed. "You want the truth?"

"Yes, Kate, I want the truth."

Kate sighed again.

"I knew you couldn't save him." she whispered, hanging her head. "I didn't want you to suffer, either. I knew that if I killed him he wouldn't feel it, but if you dragged it out, he'd suffer and so would you."

Jack nodded, implying that Kate should go on.

"I didn't forget Boone," Kate said. "I didn't forget Joanna. You tried and failed at saving them, and you aren't the type of person that can take that. You're a hero, Jack. Heroes can't stand to fail."

Jack nodded again, because she was right. Not about the hero thing, but about how he couldn't stand failing.

Jack looked at Kate. She was crying again.

"I didn't want to watch you get hurt again." Kate whispered. "That's why I killed him."

Jack nodded again and closed his eyes. He believed her.


	4. Beginning Of The End

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** Hey guys, sorry about the wait. I was on vacation in PA, then school got busy and stuff. But I'm back now, and I got hit with inspiration last night at midnight. 

And I almost went downstairs just to write this, but in the end I fell asleep. So I'm writing it now.

Enjoy.

**PS:** Don't want to ruin anything for anyone who hasn't seen the episodes yet, but in this story Charlie and Claire aren't fighting and the FEMALE CHARACTER who was MURDERED is still around too.

Okay.

**DISCLAIMER:** Don't own Lost.

**QUOTE:** "James... you're not at a wedding." -Uncle Leo when James was blowing straw wrappers at people's heads.

**-WARNING-  
-CHAPTER FOUR-  
-BY WHENICOMEAROUND-**

Kate kept to herself in the days following Sawyer's death, not speaking much to anyone but Jack. She sat on the beach, day after day, sometimes crying, sometimes just staring into the waves. If it weren't for Jack she wouldn't eat at all. He would bring her fruit and boar and refill her water for her. Kate would only speak to him.

Not that everyone didn't try to make her talk- Claire and Charlie came, with Aaron in tow, to ask her how she was feeling, but she said nothing. Shannon and Sun brought her flowers, but Kate didn't even look at them. Hurley came, cracking jokes and trying to make her smile, but Kate had no heart left inside her.

"Come on, dude. You're like one of those friggin British soldier guard guys." Hurley pleaded.

Kate remained stubbornly silent.

"All right, fine. But I don't get why you're so upset. He was a bit of an asshole, anyway."

Hurley left, and Kate started crying.

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As he chopped wood for the fire, Jack watched Kate from afar, knowing that he'd have to go make her get up- or at least, talk to him. She was a wreck.

"She loves you."

Jack turned around to see Ana Lucia standing behind him, with that I-Think-I-Know-Everything look on her face.

"What?"

"She loves you." Ana repeated, crossing her arms over her chest and sidestepping around him.

Jack chortled. "What makes you say that?"

"Because. She only talks to you. She'll only respond to you. And when she's in her normal state of mind, she's all over you, man."

Jack snorted, but his ears reddened. He picked up a log and tossed it in the pile he was making.

"So." said Ana. "What are you gonna do?"

Jack turned to look at her. "What, about Kate?"

"No, the Muffin Man. What do you think?" said Ana sarcastically.

Jack didn't appreciate this. He turned around, said, "Nothing. I'm not going to do anything.", and slammed a piece of wood with his ax.

Ana rolled her eyes. "Your call, doc." she said. Then she left.

Once she was gone, Jack sighed. He put down his ax and headed towards Kate. And even though he rarely listened to anything Ana Lucia had to say, since it was generally a load of crap, her words were ringing in his ears: "She loves you."

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Kate felt a cloth around her and warm hands on her shoulders. She didn't turn around, but she knew it was Jack.

Kate pulled her blanket tighter and Jack sat down beside her. "How are you doing, Kate?" he asked her.

Kate didn't answer right away, but when she did she said, "Okay."

"That's good." said Jack, staring out into the sea. A cool ocean breeze came upon them, blowing Kate's hair and blanket.

The two sat in silence for more than a minute, then Jack said, "Kate?"

She looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Do you want to take a walk with me?"

Kate nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

"Really?"

"Yes." said Kate.

"All right, then." said Jack, standing, then helping her stand. She hadn't been on her feet in more than twenty-four hours.

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Kate and Jack walked along the path in the jungle, the sky already dark overhead. Neither of them said anything. They didn't have to. Both of them were too busy thinking and feeling things to say anything.

Then Jack broke the silence with, "I wanted to thank you."

"What for?" said Kate, looking at him.

"For doing what you did." said Jack. "I thought about it, and I realized that you did the right thing. I was the one who was wrong. You were right. I couldn't have saved him."

Kate nodded, but tears welled up in her eyes. "Killing someone is never right." she whispered.

"Kate," Jack began. "don't."

But Kate was crying now, fully-fledged crying, and she was so weak she could barely stand anymore. Jack held her in his strong arms. She felt a slight sense of comfort, because it was him.

Jack grimaced. He held her in his arms and whispered to her mess of dark, tangly hair, "Let's get you back to the caves."

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She was too weak to walk, so he carried her back to the caves. They were almost empty. It was a nice night, so most people were sleeping on the beach.

Jack laid Kate down and covered her with a blanket. She reached for his hand. She was still crying.

"You did the right thing, Kate." Jack murmured, holding her hand in his. "you saved me."

Kate sobbed on. She'd saved him.

If only she could save herself.

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She fell asleep in his arms. After an hour, maybe two, of stroking her hair, Jack fell asleep too.

Kate woke up around midnight, her hand still laced in Jack's. Her eyes were crusted together. A fresh wave of tears washed away the old as she stood up.

Kate looked at Jack's sleeping body. She knew that she was in love with him. She knew that was why she killed Sawyer, instead of anyone else. Because Jack couldn't save him. She knew that she'd also killed him because she hated herself, and hated who she was. Who she'd become.

Quietly, Kate stood, trying not to wake Jack. She knew what she had to do. She found Sayid, who was asleep no more than eight yards away, and gently, swiftly, reached into his pocket and pulled out his knife. He stirred, but didn't wake. She put it in her own pocket.

Still crying, she headed for the exit, but stopped halfway. She walked back to Jack and kissed his cheek, gently.

"I love you, Jack." she whispered, then she headed for the beach.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jack felt a gentle tickle on his face and woke up halfway. About a minute later, he heard Sayid's shout and woke up completely.

"It's gone! My knife! It's gone!"

Jack sat up and blinked, focusing in on Sayid, who was shouting and tearing apart the cave.

"Are you sure you had it when you went to sleep?" came Michael's voice.

"Yes! It was in my pocket! Someone stole it!"

Jack glanced around the cave. "Where's Kate?" he said.

Everyone remained silent.

Jack ran out of the caves, knowing what she was going to do. He had to stop her, before it was too late.

"Perfect." said Charlie. "How very lovely."

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Jack ran faster than he'd ever run in his life. He couldn't let her do this. He'd die if she was gone. She was all he had left. He needed her.

And she didn't realize it yet, but she needed him.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

When he reached her spot on the beach, he saw her, kneeling in the sand and holding the knife, illuminated by the moonlight.

"Kate!" he yelled. "Kate, don't do this!"

Kate looked at him, sobbed, "I'm sorry, Jack." and held out her wrist for the knife, but-

"NO!"

Jack ran forward and ripped the knife from Kate's grip. He threw it aside and pulled her into his arms. She was crying hysterically.

"No. Jack... let me go... I need to..."

She was unable to form a complete sentance. She was a wreck. She struggled against his grip for another few seconds, then gave up and let him pull her into his arms.

"Kate," Jack whispered. He was crying himself now. "what are you doing?"

"I shouldn't have killed him... I should have killed myself... I deserve to die... he didn't do anything... you didn't do anything... I need... I... Jack... I love... Jack... I love... you..." she babbled.

Jack held her tighter and whispered to her, "Kate. Kate, I love you."

Kate looked up at him. Her eyes were red and puffy. So were his. "What?" she whispered.

"Kate, I love you, and if you died, I would die too. I can't bear to lose you."

Then something surprising happened. For the first time in at least two weeks, Kate actually smiled.

She smiled and threw her arms around his neck and held him tight. She kissed his cheek, then kissed his cheek again. Over and over, and Jack said, "Stay with me, Kate. I love you."

"I love you too, Jack." she whispered, then she pressed her mouth against his and they kissed.

The knife lay forgotten by the side.


End file.
